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Nepalese police have arrested some 560 Tibetan women, including many Buddhist nuns, after breaking up demonstrations against China’s crackdown in Tibet.
In the first example of all-women protests, three rallies in Kathmandu were quickly stopped by police.
It was the biggest round-up since Tibetan exiles began near daily demonstrations in March.
Protestors wearing black armbands wept and shouted “We want free Tibet” as they were dragged to police vans.
Police said those detained were being held in detention centres around the capital, and would be freed later.
Kathmandu is home to thousands of Tibetan exiles who have mounted almost daily protests against Beijing since deadly riots broke out in the Tibetan capital Lhasa in March.
Rioting erupted after days of protests pivoting around the anniversary of the failed 1959 Tibetan uprising against Chinese rule.
More than 20,000 Tibetans have been living in Nepal since fleeing their Himalayan homeland after the failed uprising and China’s subsequent crack-down.
Nepal says it cannot allow Tibetans to demonstrate because it recognises Tibet as an integral part of China.
But the UN says the mass arrests are against the spirit of a society governed by the rule of law.
The communist government’s leading newspaper called Saturday to “resolutely crush” Tibetan demonstrations against Chinese rule.
The statement came as international criticism against the crackdown on Tibetan protesters swelled.
Monks protest in Dharamsala
Going through the photos coming out of Dharamsala, I intake a breath sharply as I recognize some of the people I met this time last year when I was there. It seems so strange to me now. Only one year later. I feel so USELESS over here. What can I do? It seems so hard to be here and so white.
Faces in the crowd stand out to me. My heart leaps. I remember their kindness and their assuredness that Tibet would once again be home.
So, the Terrible protests and Violence in Tibet continue, and one must ask the question “how does the rest of the world feel?” As I live in the U.S. I must turn to the President of this country. George Bush. Where is he? Is he in India? Is he talking to the Dalai Lama? Is he talking about this issue? No. Instead I find:
“On Friday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi met with the Dalai Lama in India and called on the world to denounce China’s crackdown in Tibet.”
The Speaker of The House. Not the President. Not the Vice President. Not anyone in the Upper Echelon… but the Speaker of the House.
But then, there is no oil in Tibet. Just as there is no oil in Darfur.
Cultural genocide doesn’t matter if there is nothing to be gained in return…
A list of the dead?
20 Tibetans were reported dead following the crackdown by Chinese forces on March 16th, and 9 have been confirmed and identified as:
1. Tashi (27-year old male from Lhade Gongma Tsedrugtsang Village)
2. Tsezin Totsang (32-year old male from Thechung)
3. Lhundup Tsomo Jigjetsang, (17-year old student at Tibetan Middle School, from Ngoshu Village)
4. Atisha Gangwatsang (male from Denshu Village)
5. Norbu Phurwagoen (15-year old male, student at Tibetan Middle School, from Shanglung Village)
6. Butrang Dhargyetsang (female)
7. A Monk from Zamthang
8. Sangay (18-year old male from Raro Village)
9. Gyamtso Beize
Photos of the identified victims are available at: http://www.studentsforafreetibet.org/ngaba
Photo – Adam Zilinskas 2007
Pray
Meditate
Be aware/Stay awake
Bow
Practise yoga
Feel
Chant and sing
Breathe and smile
Relax/Enjoy/Laugh/Play
Create/Envision
Let Go/Forgive/Accept
Walk/Exercise/Move
Work/Serve/Contribute
Listen/Learn/Enquire
Consider/Reflect
Cultivate oneself/Enhance competencies
Cultivate contentment
Cultivate flexibility
Cultivate friendship and collaboration
Lighten up
Celebrate and appreciate
Dream
Give thanks
Evolve
Love
Share/Give/Receive
Walk softly/Live gently
Expand/Radiate/Dissolve
Simplify
Surrender/Trust
Be born anew
I remember my time in India fondly; it clouds my current melancholy with hues of gold and bright azure blue. The smell of spices waft lazily through the cobwebbed corridors of my memory and I smile. I think of all that these brave young women fought against to get to freedom. They walked for months over the Himalaya mountains, evading Chinese guards. Sometimes they were unsuccessful and endured beatings, rape, torture. Some made it to Nepal only to be turned in by Nepalese working for the Chinese. Yet still they pressed on; their belief in the Dalai Lama, in freedom, in their religion keeping them going.
I long to return, to refill my own flagging spirit with their overflowing ‘great mother’. They all have such a feeling of mothering. Of each other, the world, even of the people who hurt them. I am very sick, spiralling out of control. At least that’s how it feels. I would love to be able to return and cradle in the arms of the nunnery. Rest, eat, pray. Listen to the chants echo over the still morning mountains. Everyone in India is a friend.
Everyone in America is an enemy. Someone who will steal your car, rape your child, or shoot you.
Maybe that’s what’s killing my soul.
originally uploaded by discordiasdharma
Memories Of Movement 